O2 Wants to Sell You Smart Home Devices on a Contract

Gadgets can be pretty pricey if you want the latest and best stuff, but fortunately we have contracts for smartphones and tablets that help spread out the cost. Now O2 wants to do the same thing with smart home tech.

Today the network is launching something called O2 Home, which is essentially a subscription service for smart home tech. Not only will it help people spread out the cost of upgrading their home, it'll make sure they have all the support they need to keep it working. No buying a device and then finding out that it'll stop working a few months in.

Three 24-month deals are available right now, the first of which offers a Tado smart thermostat, two smart plugs, and one presence sensor for £30 a month. The second is also £30 a month, and comes with a Samsung smart camera, a panoramic view camera, open/close sensors, and a presence sensor. The third, which is £20 a month, comes with a presence sensor, two smart plugs, and an open/close sensor. All three come with O2's smart home hub as standard.

You're not just restricted to those three deals, though. Like a mobile contract, O2 Home offers bolt-ons that lets you add any of the available smart home gadgets onto your subscription. So if you need some extra smart plugs, or want a camera to spy on your thermostat, you're not going to miss out. You can also add smart locks, flood sensors, smoke alarms, and other gizmos not included in any of the deals. The bolt-ons will, naturally, cost more money.

Each device comes with a full 24-month warranty, 10 profiles for your family, and the cameras come with 250MB of free cloud storage. On top of that, provided you order between 1st and 14th September, you'll get your first year absolutely free.

There's no word on whether you can upgrade at the end of your contract, though I assume O2 is at least considering that option of Home is successful.

O2 Home is going be available in select parts of London and the South East at first, before rolling out the the rest of the country. [O2 via Engadget]